With over 40 years as a major league player, manager and broadcaster, Buck Martinez has experienced baseball from all angles. Now in his new role as the Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play announcer, Buck is taking your questions in a weekly blog for sportsnet.ca, Behind the plate with Buck.
KEVIN ASKS: With all the talk of the young Jays prospects I have hardly heard any talk about Chris Lubanaski. I know the Royals gave up on him, but he is a first round pick having a great year in triple-A. What’s the knock against this kid? They got him for free and he is currently out-pacing Wallace.
BUCK: Chris is an interesting player for the Jays. He was in spring training and his swing looks good. He can run a bit and play all of the outfield positions, but I don’t think he is someone the organization looks at as a top prospect. That said; he may develop into one. The concern is his lack of power: He has good numbers in Las Vegas but is hitting just .261 away from home. I wouldn’t write him off totally yet. As for the comparison to Wallace, Chris is an outfielder with many ahead of him — including Travis Snider — who should be back with the team this week.
PCSfan ASKS: I was wondering what the Jays are going to do with Travis Snider when he comes back. With Fred lewis, Bautista, Vernon Wells, Encarnacion etc. all doing so well where is there a spot for him?
BUCK: I think the team will call Snider up and put him in right field. Bautista goes to third and Encarnacion will have to battle for at bats. Bautista of course will get his at-bats and the Jays need to find out if Snider can be the everyday outfielder they think he should be. He showed signs of what he could do before he hurt his wrist. Too many good players is a good thing for Cito. Fred Lewis and Escobar are a great top of the order duo; one that this team has needed for a while.
ROLLIE ASKS: Hi Buck, having seen Fred Lewis play with San Francisco Giants and now with the Blue Jays, I can’t help but notice his similarity with Devon White of good ol’ Bluebirds. They have similar batting stance, the long strides when rounding the bases … the way they play, in general! I believe this kid has a tremendous potential. I wish the Jays develop him to be a base stealer which makes lead off batters even more potent weapons in a team. Do you agree with me?
BUCK: I think you make a great point in the comparison of White and Lewis. When Devo was acquired by the Blue Jays it wasn’t a big deal, but under Cito he developed into one of the best leadoff hitters in the game. Lewis came to the team with the same expectations as an extra outfielder that might add some depth to the bench. Well, as we have seen, he has changed the lineup dramatically. Not only does he have the same pop in his bat as White and his base stealing number are improving, since he has move into the leadoff spot Bautista dropped down in the order and can focus on swinging for the fences. It has worked well. I expect the line up will continue to improve with the addition of Yunel Escobar in the two spot where he has been the best throughout his career.
DOUG ASKS: Living in Denver, I get to attend Coors Field quite often. Being a Jays fan, I have also been to the Rogers Center on many occasions. Would you not agree a new “old school” type stadium would play a huge role in getting Jays fans back in the seats. Obviously everyone likes a winner, but a new stadium can certainly spark a city.
BUCK: Brent, I love the “newer” ballparks like Coors Field just like you and the Rogers Centre is maybe a little bit dated, but the fact of the matter is when the Jays contend in the AL East again the fans will beat a path right back to the stadium as they did before.
This is a very exciting team that has many good things going on right now. Young power pitching, homerun power and an ever-improving defence. The addition of Yunel Escobar will have a dramatic affect in the field and at the plate. He is as athletic as any shortstop in the game with one of the best arms in baseball from short. The second spot in the order has been a real problem for the team all year, hitting just .215 with an on-base percentage under .300. Escobar has hit at No. 2 in the order more than any other spot in the line up throughout his career and he will team up with Lewis to get on base and keep the pressure on opposing pitchers while they have to deal with Bautista, Wells and Lind (who has finally found his stroke).
The Jays have not scored as many runs as they need in the AL East, that is about to change in my mind.
BRENT ASKS: Hi Buck, great job on the broadcasts. Every year there is a lot of speculation about who should or should not be in the Hall of Fame. In your opinion, which guys that have been passed over in previous years deserve to be enshrined in Cooperstown?
BUCK: I think there are a couple of guys that should be in the Hall who have been passed over for many years. Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris are both Hall of Famers given their dominance and contributions to winning ball clubs. Morris has four World Series rings and Blyleven was always regarded as one of the top pitchers when he played.
The other one who I expect to be voted in next January will be Robbie Alomar. He was the best at his position with the glove and the bats for many years. He was the standard bt which all other second baseman were measured. I will be glad to see him next July with his Blue Jays cap on in Cooperstown.
JON ASKS: Hi, watching Yunel Escobar and his range and great arm, I know it’s early and we have not seen everything he does, but my question is could he be moved over to third base when Edwin Encarnacion moves on?
This would make room for the Hechavarria next year – everything I have read say his glove is ready but his bat is keeping him back and having two Cubans working together could make the transition easier. Let him develop as a hitter in the majors.
BUCK: Rob, I don’t think you want to give up the range and arm strength of Escobar at short. When he gets the bat going as we saw over the weekend to go with his great defensive skills in the field you have a MVP-calibre player. The change of scenery for him will allow him a fresh start that should bring out the best.
As for Hechevarria, he has been moved to double-A and will move quickly through the system on the strength of his physical tools, but don’t overlook the possibility of him playing second down the road.
ROB ASKS: Hi Buck, what is a typical gameday like, from waking up to finishing up the post-game?
BUCK: Ryan, I am going to assume you are asking about my routine for a broadcast.
I will give you my schedule as we are about to begin a new series in Kansas City against the Royals. The process begins during the previous game in Baltimore when the PR department handed use the game notes for the Royals for Sunday. After the Orioles-Jays game I packed up in the booth and headed for the team bus to take us to the charter flight to Kansas City.
During the flight, I go over the notes to see what the Royals have done lately. I also get several emails related to the series. An email from the producer details what we will discuss in the news hit for Jays Connected. Then the show open will be layed out and topics discussed. The next several emails I will look at will include news paper articles on the Sunday games around baseball, who’s hot and who’s not. The injuries around the game like Pettitte’s groin injury on the heels of AJ Burnett’s self-inflicted injury from Saturday’s game. I get a stats pack from Stat Inc. that covers both teams up to the game — including all of the past head to head match ups for the teams and the hitter pitcher matchups.
Another package includes specific notes of the unusual events that have taken place during the last couple of years between the Royals and the Blue Jays. An example is the Royals improvement in its batting average. Another note is the fact that the Jays streak of 12 consecutive games with a homer is the longest current streak in baseball.
After the paper work is attended to I have to get my clothes ready, and iron the shirt. We will leave the hotel in the early afternoon and meet at the truck to plan the open further and look at the video elements we will incorporate into the show. After the meeting we hit the field and talk to as many players, coaches and managers as possible to gather first hand ideas to complement what we “think” might take place during the game. At 6:20 local time we record the news hit and the open hopeful of finishing those by 6:30 to have the 30 minutes to gather our thoughts before the game begins.
I know the viewers seen the game begin at 7:00pm, but the work has been done well before the first pitch. Much like manager the easy part starts with the first pitch.